The 30 Most Generous Celebrities

Thanks to a record donation of $10,569,002 to the Ressler-Gertz Foundation, actress Jami Gertz and her husband, Anthony Ressler, top the list of the 30 Most Generous Celebrities compiled by The Giving Back Fund, a non-profit organization that tracks philanthropic giving worldwide. Although not exactly a mainstream actress, Gertz's deep-pocketed donation has much to do with the fact that Ressler is the co-founder of Ares Capital, a Los Angeles investment firm that controls more than $40 billion in assets, which has also recently expressed interest in buying the Dodgers.

Coming in second was musician Herb Alpert, who gave $9,104,829 to the Herb Alpert Foundation, which focuses on the arts, compassion and well being, followed by Mel Gibson, who signed a check of $6,853,020 to the AP Reilly Foundation, which he started to support the Holy Family Church.

Authors, actors, artists, comedians, and supermodels were among the celebrities who made this year's list, which takes into account the largest donations to charity made by them in 2010, according to public records and interviews with charities known for their celebrity affiliations. The data was also compiled by interviewing publicists, attorneys, agents, agencies, and managers for information about their clients. (Donations made by a celebrity's foundation were not included on the list, since there's no way to track the source of that money, which could be money raised by the public and not necessarily donated by the celebrity.)

"Encouragement by example is the main reason we compile this list,"said Marc Pollick, president and founder of The Giving Back Fund. "One cannot help but be influenced by the generosity of his or her peers." Pollick continued, "We are also often asked by the media and the public about which celebrities actually give the largest donations to charitable causes, so we decided it made sense to publish the research for all to see."

It's no surprise that celebrities like to have their name associated with good causes. It's good PR, and the more good they do, the more the public loves them. Because of that, they have often being accused of using charity work only to improve their "brand." Truth be told, charities also rely on celebrities to get press and help raise awareness. In other words, it is a virtuous (vicious?) cycle.

The question is -- does it work both ways?

"Never say never but, in my experience, the fabled benefits of celebrity support have rarely lived up to the hype," says Peter Stanford, a British journalist who's on the board of several charities in the UK. “I have lost count of the number of charity chief executives and chairs who've told me that they pinned their hopes on a bumper payback because they had a famous face at a fund-raising event, or fronting a campaign, and then been disappointed.”

Justin Forsyth, the CEO of Save the Children, believes otherwise. "In my experience, the benefits of celebrity are not fabled but real – and can produce very concrete results. Without the campaigning energies of Bono, Bob Geldof and Richard Curtis, for example, I don't believe 46 million more children would be in school today in some of the world's poorest countries," Forsyth countered, remembering the success of the Make Poverty History and Drop the Debt campaigns.

The book Exploring Public Relations, written by public relations and communications experts Ralph Tench and Liz Yeomans, attributes the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement to ‘credibility’ and ‘attention.' The authors go on to say that celebrities can attract attention and this is the most vital ingredient of success in a world saturated with so much noise generated by media messages. If celebrities are fully informed and engaged with the cause they are promoting, the message can greatly influence the process of persuading others to support the cause.

An example of that premise is the collaboration between the late actor Christopher Reeve and the American Paralysis Association (APA). After Reeve was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 1995 he became connected with the APA, which over the next three years saw its revenue double to $5 million, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In fact, the results were so positive that the charity was rebranded as Christopher Reeve Foundation.

Lance Armstrong has had similar impact on cancer awareness. The famous US cyclist, a seven-time Tour de France champion and a survivor of testicular cancer, is the founder of the LiveStrong anti-cancer foundation, which annually helps millions of sick people, although critics have leveled charges against it for spending much of its budget on buffing Armstrong's personal brand. Besides the financial support of its founder, the foundation also raises funds through licensing arrangements with companies like Nike, Bayer and Oakley. Today, Livestrong has an yearly revenue of around $48 million.

Combined, the 30 Most Generous Celebrities donated nearly $64 million of their personal wealth to a variety of charities. Either for doing the good deed or simply for other reasons, these people certainly cannot be accused of not giving back.

Check out who made the 30 Most Generous Celebrities list:

1. Actress Jami Gertz and her husband Antony Ressler -- $10,569,002

To the Ressler Gertz Foundation. Grants from the foundation include $1.7 million to the LA County Museum of Art, $400k to Cedar Sinai Medical Center.

2. Musician Herb Alpert --$9,104,829

To the Herb Alpert Foundation, which focuses on the arts, compassion, and well being.

3. Actor Mel Gibson -- $6,853,020

To the A.P. Reilly Foundation, which he started to support Holy Family Church.